« Though the wisest man wants to persuade the sanest man, he is not necessarily welcomed upon his first arrival. » Such was the case of I Yin’s persuading T`ang. Again the saying: « Though the wise man wants to persuade the fool, he is not necessarily listened to. » Such was the case of King Wên’s 10 persuading Chow. 11

Thus, just as King Wên attempted to persuade Chow and was put in jail, 12 Marquis Ih 13 was broiled; Marquis Chiu’s 14 corpse was dried; Pi-kan 15 had his heart cut open; and Earl Mei’s corpse was pickled. 16

Furthermore, I-wu was bound with chains. Ts`ao Ch`i 17 absconded to Ch`ên. Pai-li Tzŭ 18 begged on his way to the capital of Ch`in. Fu Yüeh 19 was sold into slavery from place to place. Sun Tzŭ 20 had his feet cut off in Wey. Wu Ch`i 21 wiped off his tears at Dike Gate, lamented over the impending cession of the Western River Districts to Ch`in, and was dismembered in Ch`u. Kung-shu Tso 22 spoke of a man fit to be a pillar of the state but was regarded as unreasonable, so that Kung-sun Yang 23 absconded to Ch`in. Kuan Lung-p`êng 24 was executed. Ch`ang Hung 25 had his intestines chopped into pieces. Yin Tzŭ 26 was thrown into a trap among brambles. The Minister of War, Tzŭ-ch`i, 27 was killed and his corpse was floated on the Yang-Tzŭ River. T`ien Ming 28was stoned 29 to death. Mi Tzŭ-chien 30 and Hsi-mên Pao 31 quarrelled with nobody but were killed. Tung An-yü 32 was killed and his corpse was exposed in the market-place. Tsai Yü 33 had to suffer the disaster caused by T`ien Ch`ang. 34 Fan Chü 35 had his ribs broken in Wey.

These tens of men 36 were all benevolent, worthy, loyal, and upright persons in the world and followers of the right way and true path of life. Unfortunately they met such unreasonable, violent, stupid, and crooked masters, and lost their lives in the long run.